FAITH/WORKS (again...)

“WHERE IS IT WRITTEN?”

If it were possible for an evangelical church to have a mantra, this would certainly be the one for the Evangelical Covenant Church! This foundational formulation guides every aspect of our denominational life, from Bible study to worship to the sacraments to the living out of our faith. So, it is written:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, though faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

And it is written:

“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24)

And again it is written:

“We have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16b)

And again:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:34,40b)

And yet again:

“Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11)

And......

“Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17)

Faith - works - grace - law - belief - deeds - yep, there sure are lots of things “written” in Scripture; lots of ideas, instructions, and truths that often seem quite diverse, contrary, situational maybe. What does all this mean? Why would God allow these conflicting sentences into His “perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct” (another one of our major Covenant affirmations)? You’d think that something as significant as our salvation would be spelled out so clearly, so unequivocally, so unambiguously that there would be no hint of confusion, no need for interpretation, not a bit of conflicting thought or instruction for us, God’s people. It should be presented plainly, objectively, exactly (like a “how to” book), in plain English, everything defined with a precise meaning: “This is faith! This is what belief is! This is how it works! These are the steps/procedures/formulas for correct faith and getting to heaven.” Black-and-white answers; all doubts and questions resolved.

Maybe this is why we create things like “The Four Spiritual Laws.” Things that simplify the complexities of faith so we can manage it, prescribe it, control it.

Yet there it is, in just some of the verses of Scripture I chose: different ideas, plainly saying that faith is not about what we do--and also that faith apart from what we do is useless; no faith at all; dead.

If you know church history, you know that this was one of the key issues during the Reformation: justification by faith/justification by works. Protestant theology has affirmed that salvation is sola fide, through “justification by faith alone.” Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology exclude such a firm, strong, single-minded stance, holding instead that grace implies good works, and so they are also necessary for salvation.

(Let me state clearly at this point, so no one can charge me with Covenant heresy :) that I ascribe fully to “justification by faith alone!” As both a member of the Covenant Church and the Covenant Ministerium, and as a follower of Jesus, this tenet seems most real, miraculous, unique, TRUE--so refreshingly different from all other religions where salvation must be achieved and where actions and consequences create uncertainty, fear, and distance from the deity, rather than the confidence, hope, joy, and intimate relationship with the God of the universe that we graciously have through our Savior, Jesus. The question is: what defines “faith?”)

Why am I rehashing all this topic? I got to thinking about faith and works again because of something I read in a recent teaching letter from “Bridges For Peace,” the organization I volunteered with on my sabbatical in Jerusalem four years ago:

“In rabbinic teaching, we find a great depth of instruction on the importance of what we do. In at least modern Western Christianity, we find the emphasis placed on what we think or believe. Sadly, sometimes this difference has been exaggerated and portrayed as Jewish people only caring about “deeds” and being bound to legalism. A more accurate criticism is sometimes leveled against modern Western Christianity: that we only care and teach about what we think or believe and not about what we do. Neither of these extremes is a fair portrayal of either rabbinic Judaism, nor of biblical Christianity.”


This made me wonder if what needs clarifying are our definitions of faith/belief and works/actions. It seems to me that what we have done is to divorce what was never intended to be separated at all. That “faith” is, in and of itself, an active thing; a demonstrative thing; an embodied reality of one’s strongly held tenets of truth. It is not merely an intellectual, ideological, theological doctrine to which one gives mental assent. The way the writer of James frames his instruction on faith affirms this more unified, integrated, Jewish approach to belief.

But is this the way we Evangelical Covenant Protestant Western Christians really understand faith? To be honest, in my growing up years it was firmly planted in my Christian education that faith has nothing to do with what we do. For years, faith to me was very much an idea, right thought, correct belief, specific knowledge, and orthodox doctrine--in short, a mental exercise, giving assent to and consciously accepting this entire slate of information. Being open to other information and ideas was risky and dangerous. It might be unorthodox, erroneous, even heretical! People would be suspicious of you, God would surely disapprove, and you certainly were in danger of not going to heaven.

This “either/or” understanding of faith and works is what I picked up as I was growing up as a Covenant youth. Perhaps this was meant to distinguish us from Catholics, or to help us steer clear of “works righteousness” (I’m not sure why...maybe that’s just the way we evangelicals assumed faith to be in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s).

No wonder I experienced several crises of faith at various times throughout my life as I tried hard to resolve all the conflicting “bits” of theology, teaching, preaching, and information I was continually receiving and discovering as I sought a closer, deeper walk with Christ. I really wanted to know the TRUTH! I really did seek to honor God with all of my life! I really did want to understand this whole Christian deal; to have it make complete sense. But I kept bumping up against things that raised questions and doubts, that did not make sense to me, and that sometimes just made me want to throw in the towel on the whole business of Christianity. I’m grateful for the many teachers, counselors, authors, pastors, and other spiritual advisors who walked along side of me through these “dark night(s) of the soul” and helped me discern and develop better, bigger ways of grappling with Scripture, theology, ethics, and all the other aspects of faith with healthy, critical thinking.

But back to faith & works - belief & actions...here are some things rattling around in my brain:


•Can we distinguish between “works” and “actions?” Might “works” be human attempts to achieve one’s own salvation, while “actions” are the seen embodiment of faith/belief; the inevitable evidence of one’s deepest convictions?

•Faith: it is NOT works. But is it NO works?!

•It seems to me there is a lot in our faith that is not meant to be pinned down and dissected like a frog in an anatomy lab! The realities of God’s designs are too immense, too beautifully rich and complex, too intricate to be contained in the logic and thinking of finite humanity. Remember, Jesus spoke in parables! “The kingdom of heaven IS LIKE...! It cannot be precisely defined. Maybe it isn’t meant to be. It can only be grasped obliquely; subtly; with something akin to peripheral vision. This kingdom is too spectacular and wonderful to nail down or to be viewed directly. Same with faith and works. They are best approached with “parable” language, best understood as elements in a relationship, intricately and intimately connected, like a marriage--and not meant to be sundered. We get into a can of worms when we try too hard to specify and delineate and pinpoint each element--faith and works--and mess up the rich relational reality of belief and action as they are lived out in actual life.


Overall, I think the author of the teaching letter gets it right when he says the extreme portrayals of faith and action in Judaism and Christianity are not fair in either case. It seems obvious--and biblical--to me that faith is not just an idea or construct, mental assent to something, or vocal statement of what “I believe.” It has within it implications of action/deeds/works--evidence that what is inside one’s head and heart is actual, real, alive. The book of James clearly testifies to the interconnectedness of faith and works. We need to get over our human tendency to demand hard, definitive, intellectual constructs regarding these two components. We need to realize that the Jewish understanding of faith as a lived-out active reality beautifully compliments the more intellectual, mental, in-the-head understanding of faith that has been characteristic of Western Christianity. As we do, the world’s rather jaded and negative perception of the Church as a hypocritical religious institution obsessed with irrelevant, divisive agendas will be changed, “and they’ll know we are Christians by our love” as we offer the world obvious, irrefutable evidence of our faith in Christ.

Whadayah think?